Removable rubbing pad type toothbrush



Oct. 4, 1955 E. A. SHEEHAN 2,719,315

REMOVABLE RUBBING PAD TYPE TOOTHBRUSH Filed Oct. 8, 1952 I 7 i 4 g I L L Fig). 7. g 9 5\ IIIII 7 l5 3 2 I IN VENTOR ECiWiJL Jq- Slu s/ am? ATTORNEY United States Patent REMOVABLE RUBBING PAD TYPE- TOOTHBRUSH Edwin A. Sheehan, Silver Spring, Md.

Application October 8, 1952, Serial No. 313,633'

9 Claims. (Cl. -210) The present invention relates to the art of toothbrushes and more particularly to implements in the nature of toothbrushes but differing from the conventional bristled article by having an improved rubbing, polishing or massaging element which is detachably mounted on a handle for single use followed by discarding and replacement.

A primary object is to provide an implement of the type indicated including as the replaceable element a pad made of specially prepared and constructed fibrous material which will be superior to the usual natural or synthetic bristles in providing gentle and safe, yet highly effective-and efficient tooth cleaning and polishing and gum massaging action. That .is to say, the new rubbing element is devoid of all the harsh scraping or scratching.

effect which is characteristic of conventional bristles.

A further object is to provide a pad which can be readily removed and replaced by a fresh, unused pad which will require a minimum of effort, skill and time to mount in operative position and which, when so mounted, will be securely retained in place during any reasonable or expected amount of vigorous rubbing action on the teeth or gums.

Another object is to make such a pad out of materials and in forms which involve such low cost of, manufacture that replacement for each toothbrushing operation will be sufficiently inexpensive to make the device commercially practical for wide public acceptance.

An important particular object of the invention,

specific form of embodiment, is the use, in a brushing'or massaging element of the type indicated, of a pad made of conventional cotton terry cloth.

A further particular object of a preferred embodiment is the use, as an attaching means for securing the pad to an operating handle, of a short length of cord fastened to the pad and jammed, wedged or otherwise frictionally fitted in a slot or kerf formed in 'a pad-seating surface of the handle.

Other and further related objects and advantages of the' invention will be evident to those skilled in the art from the disclosure of certain preferred forms of embodiment which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part of this application for Letters Patent, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handle member and rubbing pad embodying a preferred form of the invention, shown in unassembled relation;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the handle member;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pad-seating portion of the handle and attached pad;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view like that of Fig. 3 but showing a modification;

Fig. 6 a top plan view of the handle member shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view like those of Figs. 3 and 5 but showing a further modification;

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of a still further modified form of pad-seating portion; and

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 9--9 of Fig. 8.

But these views are illustrative merely, and not exclusive, of some of the many forms in which the invention may be embodied, and are submitted and will be described solely for the purpose of exemplifying the invention in its preferred forms of embodiment, it being understood that the basic principles of inventive novelty may be otherwise incorporatedin different physical structures, all within the scope of the broader of the appended claims.

The invention comprises essentially the combinationof a. handle member provided at one end portion with a block on which a rubbing pad is detachably mounted by means of a cord or equivalent element which is permanently secured to the pad and is releasably engaged with the block. Details of the invention, which may be advantageously used in connection with the essential principles, relate to the specific relationship of the attaching cord and block and to the specific character, structure and design of the pad, as will now be briefly described with reference to the several figures of the drawing.

In Fig. 1 the reference numeral 1 designates in its entirety a handle member having at one end an elongated gripping portion 2 which is adapted to be grasped in the palm of the hand of the user in the manner of a conventional toothbrush handle and having at its other end portion a mounting block 3 which, as shown, may be of substantially the height, length, width and general proportions of the usual set of bristle tufts provided on an ordinary toothbrush. The entire handle member may be made integrally of one piece of plastic material, or of wood or any equivalentsubstance, or the gripping and block portions may be made separately and permanently united in any convenient manner.

The upper surface 4 of the block 3 is best made smooth and generally flat, or slightly curved and rounded as shown, to provide a seat for a pad element which may be of the type designated 5 in Fig. 1. This pad is essentially a generally fiat piece of sheet material, preferably of cotton and has projecting from one surface a multiplicity of uncut pile loops. It is extensively used in the manufacture of Turkish or bath toweling. I have found that pads made of this material give highly satisfactory results in cleaning the teeth and massaging the gums, with none of the danger of scratching or similar injury to the dental enamel or gum tissue that often results from the use of conventional bristles of animal or synthetic origin.

However, of whatever material the pad 5 of Fig. 1 may be made, the pad is essentially a small sheet having generally the shape and area of the upper surface 4 of the mounting block 3. To the under side of the pad there is permanently aflixed, as by sewing, a longitudinally extending cord 6 of cotton or the like which, in the Fig. 1 embodiment of the invention, projects from each end of the pad as a single central short strand or length.

The seating surface 4 of the block 3 is longitudinally centrally kerfed, as shown at 71, for reception of the pad cord 6. The proportions of the cord and kerf are such that the cord can be caught by a somewhat wedging action in the kerf so that when so anchored it will hold Patented Oct. 4, 1955 the pad snugly down in place on the upper surface of the block, as shown in Figs. 3' and 4. This has been found to constitute a very practical mode of attachment because a cord made of cotton is suliiciently stretchable and elastic to make good seating in the. kerf and hold the pad in. place for the single use to whicjhthe invention contemplates putting it. The attachment becomes even the manufacturer or by the individual user, any kind of impregnation, medication or dentifrice, with or without wettingby water or other liquid.

Asjhas, been stated herei'nabove, the cord or its equivalent may be jammed or gripped in the handle block kerf in a number of ways. Figs. 5 and 6 show a modification in which the, cord 10 is formed in double strand and has a loop 11 formed at its rear or inner end. The block carried by the handle member may have a kerf which is somewhat shallower than the kerf 7 of the Fig, 1. form of the invention, and the block is provided at its rear end with a short rearwardiy projecting lug 12 which forms an anchorage for the loop, as shown in the assembled views of Figs. 5. and 6.

This form of pad is applied by first. engaging the loop 11, over the lug 12 and thenpulling the rest of the length of the cord snugly down in the shallow kerf, or into the somewhat deepened kerf, if one be provided in the form shown in Fig. 3,, with the free end of the cord projecting from, the front end of the block so that it can be pulled up and out of the kerf for. removal. I have found that the. friction fit of the cord in the kerf, which of course prevents disengagement of the cord from the kerf' by preventing endwise or upward movementof the cord in the. kerf, prevents separation of the loop from the lug, I

In, the form shown in Fig. 7. the kerf 7 is made as in thev previous figures. It may be relatively shallow, or comparatively deep as shown, but it is narrow enough to, prevent entry of a knot or similar enlargement 17.

type of handle member is shaped in cross-section like the. kerf. That is to say, it is relatively wide, constituting a, sort. of ribbon, or tape, and its rear or inner end is knotted, or provided with some equivalent enlargement,

4 like that shown at 17 in Fig. 7, which can be pulled tightly into the kerf end when the remainderof-thecordis wedged down into the rest of the kerf, so as to prevent forward movement of the pad on the seat.

It is believed that the essential principles of the invention, and the preferred forms in which it is proposed to embody those principles, will. be. sufiiciently clear to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description considered in conjunction with thedrawing.

I claim:

1. A toothbrush comprising a handle member having at one end portion a mounting block provided with a substantially oblong pad-supporting outer surface; having a longitudinal kerf extending the full length thereof, in combination with a substantially oblong rubbing pad having a roughened outer operating surface and a relatively smooth inner surface, and means detachably mounting the pad. on the block with the inner surface of the pad engaged with the outer surface of the block comprising a longitudinally extending cord secured to. the inner surfaceof the pad and projecting from the ends thereof and releasably caught in the kerf in the block.

2. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, in which the handle member is provided at its opposite end portion with an elongated gripping portion and in which the padsupporting outer surface of the mounting block is relatively smooth and flat and is disposed in a plane parallel" to the axis of the gripping portion.

3. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, in which the pad-supporting outer surface of. the mounting blockhas rounded edges and in which the, pad is substantially similarly shaped.

4. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1,, in which said mounting block is provided atone end With a projecting lug and saidcord' is provided. with a looped extension projecting from an end of the pad and releasably secured to said lug,

5 A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, in which said kerf is relatively Wide and has undercut side walls.

6. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, in which said kerf is relatively Wide and has undercut side walls; and in which the cord is provided with an enlargement atone end for jamming in said undercut kerf.

7. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1', in which the pad is made of uncut relatively high pile woven fibrous material.

8. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, in which the-pad is made of terry cloth.

9 A toothbrush, as claimed in claim 1', in which por tions of the kerf extend down the ends of the block and the projecting ends of the cord are releasably caught in said extended'portions of the kerf.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

